Annotated Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography

Vollum, Scott. Last Words and the Death Penalty: Voices of the  

     Condemned and their Co-Victims. New York: LFB Scholarly

     Publishers. 2008

            Vollum discusses the many crimes that have put people on death row. He does a number of case studies involving these crimes and the criminals who committed the crimes. Vollum also allows the reader to hear the last statements of both the condemned and their victims. This allows the reader to hear both sides and decide if they think capital punishment is deserved or warranted, also one is able to see what crimes in what states actually cause the court to rule in favor of the death penalty. This is important to my particular paper because I will be able to use the specific cases and compare them and get peoples opinion of the death penalty. It will also allow me to compare the opinions of the victims and of the condemned to allow the reader of my paper to determine their own thoughts regarding this topic.

 

Lu, Hong. China’s Death Penalty: history, law, and contemporary practices. New York. Rutledge. 2007

            This particular book is very helpful in describing how the death penalty works in China. It tells what types of crimes must be committed in order for the death penalty to be your punishment. It also does a nice job of giving the history of the legal system in China and how the law on the death penalty came about an dhow it has changed throughout the years. This will be helpful in order to compare and contrast how the death penalty differs state to state and country to country. Also Lu gives the characteristics of those who have received a death sentence and the process they must go through.

 

History of Death Penalty. DPIC. Washington D.C. 2009.

       

                        This website begins by discussing the early death penalty laws and where it began. Then it continues on to specifically talk about the death penalty in America and how Britain influenced America into using the death penalty as punishment. It also talks about the early and late movements people made in order to abolish the death penalty in America and how some states were successful. This website discusses the constitutionality of the death penalty, how the death penalty has become limited in the United States as well as recent developments in the death penalty today. This article will be important to my paper because it will help me discuss the differences between the death penalty in the United States and how the death penalty in other countries may work. Also it allows me to compare the death penalty among the states for instance it shows what states do not practice the death penalty as well as those who do and discusses which states use the death penalty most strictly. Another valuable piece to my paper will be the history of how the death penalty got started and which countries first used it for instance we adopted the death penalty from Britain.

           

Overview of the Death Penalty Worldwide.

     http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/overview.html

            This website article is very short and to the point. It discusses how the use of capital punishment has decreased worldwide it the past few years. However, it also discusses countries such as Japan, China, and North Korea and how the way they use the death penalty is much different than in other countries because some of the executions go un reported. It also gives a graph of countries that lists countries and the methods of execution and then lists the number of each used in the different countries. This website is very useful in order to compare not only how widely used the death penalty is amongst other countries but also which method of execution is more widely used in each individual country.

 

Hood, R. Death Penalty: A World Wide Prospective. Oxford University

     Press, Inc. New York, NY. 1989

            This article discusses the death penalty and how it differs and is similar worldwide. It focuses on researching and discussing which countries are tending to become more opposed to the death penalty and working toward getting rid of the death penalty as well as discussing which countries are using the death penalty more widely and expanding the use of it. It even discusses the pro’s and cons of the death penalty and construct studies to prove which method; death penalty or life in jail as a better outcome. This article is very important for my paper because it conducts country to country surveys and polls which will help me in comparing and contrasting the views and practices of the death penalty worldwide.

 

Rogers, Alan. Murder and the Death Penalty in Massachusetts.    

     Amherst. University of Massachusetts Press. 2008

            This particular article focuses on the death penalty specifically in Massachusetts. This article discuses the history of the death penalty in this state and how it has changed over the years. It also compares the death penalty in Massachusetts compared other states. It begins by illustrating the criminal procedure in colonial Massachusetts and how it has changed over time. Then near the end of the book it discusses Massachusetts move toward abolition and the criminal process after abolition. This is important for my paper because it allows me to compare the progress certain states in the United States have made compared to other countries.

           

Green, Melissa. History of the Death Penalty and Recent   

     Developments. University of Alaska Anchorage. May 2005.

            This article gives a brief description of the history of the death penalty beginning with the first recorded execution in the United States. The article discusses how the process of the death penalty spread throughout the United States and how eventually certain methods of execution were considered cruel and unusual. It cites certain Supreme Court decisions in favor of the death penalty and against the death penalty. And then the article eventually discusses the status of the death penalty in the United States and compares it in the different states. This is useful for my paper because it will help me gather information on the death penalty in the United States and help me discuss the differences that range between the states. Also I will be able to discuss how the death penalty has changed over the years.

 

F E Zimring, G Hawkins, Capital Punishment and the American Agenda.      Cambridge University Press. New York, NY. 1987. 

            This book focuses on discussing the political and social aspects of the United States that consider it to be the only Westernized Country to still have the death penalty. It compares the death penalty in America compared to in Western Europe as well as discusses the steps America has taken towards the abolition of the death penalty. This book shows facts such as statistics and specific Supreme Court cases that have lead America in the direction toward abolition. This book will be very helpful for me to use in my paper because it lists specific court cases that have molded America’s beliefs in the death penalty. It also compares America to other Westernized countries unlike the other sources that compare America to countries who still believe in the death penalty.